Tuesday, October 18, 2005

I Love My Life!


That's what is written on my T-shirt. They were selling them at the women's retreat and at first I hesitated to buy one. I mean, how many people can honestly say that they love their life? The more I thought about it though, the more I realized that I really do love my life right now. I don't think I've ever been able to say that before. Okay, so details about the reatreat/conference. It was held in Prescott at a hotel and when we got there Friday afternoon they were still getting the banquet room decorated and set up so it looked really nice for the services we had. Friday night's service was great but short and was mainly just a time for us to get acquainted with each other. Saturday my roommate and I drove around downtown Prescott and then went for a short hike at one of the campgrounds. We actually got to see some fall colors in the landscape, something you have a hard time finding here in Phoenix. Saturday night's service was about knowing our true identities in Christ. It was a very powerful and emotional service. It was supposed to end at 10:00 pm but I didn't get out of there until 11:30 or so. Sometimes the power of God is so strong you just don't want to leave. Sunday morning, the last day there, was also very emotional. The surprise guest speaker turned out to be our senior pastor. In his sermon he acknowledged all of the types of neglect and abuse women have had to endure from men, starting with poor or nonexistent relationships with our dads all the way to abusive marriages and relationships. He said that is not what God had intended for His little girls. We were supposed to be cherished and protected. Then he did something that I thought was so cool. He stood there and apologized for every hurtful thing that was said or done to us and he had us close our eyes while he said the words we should have heard from men. It was very healing time of forgiveness for all and a great way to end the retreat. I'm going to try to get an audio file of the sermon and post it here for any woman that may need to hear it.

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